Aventurera (1950): Film Noir UK

Ninón Sevilla stars as Elena, an upper middle-class young woman whose life is turned upside down when her mother abandons the family, and her father commits suicide.

Victim of these circumstances, Elena descends into a nightlife of extravagant dances, forced exploitation and prostitution under control of the brothel madam (Andrea Palma). The drama includes surrealist shows, lies, betrayal and offers a critique of the dynamics of social class, power and double morality.

Aventurera was director Alberto Gout’s fourteenth feature film, commissioned by production company Cinematográfica Calderón as a vehicle to bring Sevilla to super-stardom. Music plays an instrumental role in the narrative with Pedro Vargas singing the Aventurera ‘Adventuress’ song written by popular Agustín Lara.

Presented by Film Noir UK and Lorena Pino as part of Other Ways of Seeing, supported by BFI awarding funds from National Lottery.

A new 4K restoration courtesy of Permanencia Voluntaria. With an introduction by Lorena Pino, film curator and promoter of Latin American film culture.